Jam-proof feed mouth assembly for ammunition containers



J y 1959 I R. A. STARRY JAM-PROOF FEED MOUTH ASSEMBLY FOR AMMUNITION CONTAINERS Filed Sept. 29, 1955 INVENTOR. RAYMOND A. STARRY 2,895,382 Patented July 21, 1959 United States Patent hhce JAM-PROOF FEED MOUTH ASSEMBLY FOR AMMUNITION CONTAINERS The. invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

This invention relates to a jam-proof feed mouth assembly for ammunition containers and more particularly to a jam-proof feed mouth assembly for dispensing belted tapered round ammunition from containers therefor.

In the past, jamming of a cartridge belt in the outlet opening or feed mouth of anammunition container as the cartridge belt was withdrawn therefrom by the cartridge feeding mechanism of a machine gun has been overcome by various cartridge positioning and friction reducing devices such as rollers rotatably mounted adjacent to the lower edge of such openings, to facilitate unrestricted movemenmt of the belted cartridges through suchan opening as they are fed to a gun. However, the recent. developments of substantially heavier cartridges with enlarged tapered shell cases and the development of machine guns capable of firing' at a substantially more rapid rate have substantially increased the possibility of jamming at the outlet opening or feed mouth 'of an ammunition container due to the increased size and modified shape of the cartridges passing therethrough and to the sharply increased loads imposed at this point by cartridge feeding mechanisms capable of supplying eartridges to a machine gun at a more rapid rate. For example, where rollers have been used to support the belted cartridges at the outlet opening of the container, the belt links interconnecting the cartridges frequently become entangled with the roller supporting shaft causing link separation which results in interruption of the cartridge feeding operation. In addition, the substantially increased weight of the ammunitionnow being used in combination withtlie'more severe shock loads imposed thereby tends to bend the roller supporting shaft'to such an extent that it binds the rollers with the result that the cartridge belt becomes jammed in the outlet opening or the mouth of the ammunition container.

The present invention contemplates the provision of a light-weight, resilient smoothly contoured feed mouth assembly for fixed attachment to existing ammunition containers to eliminate the'malfunctions characteristic of said existing equipment, or for incorporation during fabricae tion of newly constructed ammunition containers,

An object of this invention is the provision of means for guiding and supporting relatively heavy tapere'd am munitionas it is withdrawn rapidly from the feed mouth of an ammunition container, said means being arranged to preclude jamming the ammunition or separating the cartridge belt links interconnecting successive rounds of ammunition. 4

Another object is to provide a light-weight smoothly contoured feed mouth assembly for an ammunition container, in which all moving parts are eliminated.

' A final object of this invention is to provide a com pact, light-weight, resilient feed mouth assembly for quick attachment to a shipping container forbelted ammunition to convert the shipping container to an ammunition feed container. I

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing, which is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the instant invention.

Referring next to the drawing, in which like reference numerals refer to like or corresponding parts, a broken away representation 30 of a portion of a conventional rectangular ammunition container is shown in operative relationship to a preferred embodiment of the instant in vention comprising a feed mouth assembly generally designated by reference numeral 10 removably secured to ammunition container 30 by suitable releasable attachment means such as a pair of hinge assemblies, one of which is visible in the drawing, each composed of a pair of interfitting elements 11 interconnected by a removable pin 12 secured by suitable attachment means 13, such as rivets or spot welds to the feed mouth assembly 10 and to the container, respectively. The feed mouth as sembly 10 is composed of a flat upper surface element 15 and an arcuately curved lower surface element 16 interconnected by a pair of shaped planar side panels 17 to form a semi-bell mouth assembly. In order to provide sufiicient strength and resilience with lightweight, the respective elements 15 and 16 and panels 17 may be fabricated from a high strength sheet material such as stainless steel or the like, and be interconnected by suitable connecting means such as welded or flush-riveted joints with no internal projections to interrupt the smooth interior surfaces of these elements. The outlet opening 20 at the outer end of the feed mouth assembly '10 may conveniently be made generally rectangular in cross section. However, in order to provide proper support for tapered ammunition smoothly tapered ribs 21 and 22 must be provided on the inner surfaces of the upper element 15 and the lower element 16, respectively, of the feed mouth assembly 10.. Formed integrally asshown, the ribs Hand 22 strengthen the elements 15 and 16 by stiffening these members without introducing additional weight. Alternatively, these ribs may be formed separately with flanges along both edges for connection to these members by suitable attachment means such as rivets or spot welds. In addition, the upper element 15 of the feed mouth assembly 10 is provided with a tapered outwardly olfset portion 23 disposed parallel to the rib 21 and shaped to accommodate the projecting portion of the cartridge belt clips encircling and interconnecting the cartridges. Finally, proper longitudinal positioning of successive cartridges in the opening 20 is assured by a resilient cartridge biasing member 25 which may be secured to one of the side panels 17 adjacent to the opening 20.

In operation, the feed mouth assembly 10 illustrated in the drawing is mounted upon a container 30 for belted ammunition and secured thereto by inserting the pins 12 in the interfitted elements 11 of the releasable attaching means and the end of the cartridge belt is threaded through the semi-bell mouth formed by the feed mouth assembly 10 so that successive cartridges are drawn through the opening 20 therethrough with each disposed instantaneously in the position indicated by the dotted o utline 27 of a cartridge disposed in the opening 20. It will be noted that the tapered profile of the cartridge is accommodated by the opposed ribs 21 and 22 projecting into the opening 20 to support the smaller end of the cartridge, and that resilient biasing means 25 which engages the tip of the projectile is eifective to posiat which these cartridges are fed to a gun, substantial intermittent loads are imposed upon the feed mouth as, sembly by operation of the cartridge feeding mechanism associated with a machine gun. The instant invention is designed to combine strength with resilient properties in order to absorb these substantial intermittent loads without interfering with the cartridge feeding operation, at the same time that its smoothly contoured configuration insures smooth and uninterrupted movement of the cartridge belt through the opening 20. It will be noted that the opposed ribs 21 and 22, as well as the outwardly olfset portion 23, are tapered gradually to vanishing points a substantial distance from the opening 20 in order to provide a gradual camming action for properly positioning the cartridges as they pass through the opening 20 without substantially increasing the load upon the cartridge feeding mechanism and the feed mouth assembly by restricting the movement of the belted cartridges therethrough.

Thus, the present invention provides a jam-proof means for discharging belted cartridges from an ammunition container which eliminates malfunctions directly or indirectly atrributable to the incorporation of rotatable parts adjacent the feed mouth on previously known installations and yet provides faired guiding surfaces to insure uninterrupted movement of belted cartridges from an ammunition container to a gun feed mechanism.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

1. An ammunition container for tapered round ammunition to be supported therein by a cartridge belt folded in successive horizontal layers within the container, said container comprising a rectangular box with a substantial rectangular opening therethrough adjacent the upper edge of one vertical end thereof, an inwardly flared outlet assembly fixedly secured to said container, said outlet assembly, including upper and lower walls and a pair of side walls interconnecting. said upper and lower Walls, being generally rectangular in vertical crosssection and terminating at the outer end in a horizontally elongated outlet opening, the lower wall thereof being curved away from the outlet opening, and faired smoothly into vertical alignment with the end of the container adjacent the lower edge of the rectangular opening therethrough, a first elongated ammunition guide means smoothly tapered lengthwise thereof thickest at the outlet opening, extending along the inner surface of the upper wall adjacent to but spaced from one side wall, and faired into the inner surface of the upper wall adjacent to said container, and a second elongated ammunition guide means smoothly tapered lengthwise thereof thiclo est at the outlet opening, extending along the inner surface of the lower wall adjacent to but spaced from the same side wall, and faired into the inner surface of the lower wall adjacent to said container.

2. For use with an ammunition container for belted tapered round ammunition consisting of a box. with a substantial rectangular opening therethrough adjacent the upper edge of one substantially vertical end thereof, a demountable outlet assembly comprising an open ended box structure including a generally flat upper wall, first and second flat side walls, and an arcuately curved lower wall, all terminating at one end in a relatively small generally rectangular horizontally elongated outlet opening and at the other end in a reatively large rectangular opening corresponding in size to that of the rectangular opening in a cooperating ammunition container, said arcuately curved lower wall being shaped to fair smoothly into engagement with the substantially vertical end of a cooperating ammunition container adjacent to the rectangular opening therethrough, a first elongated ammunition guide means smoothly tapered lengthwise thereof and extending along the length of the inner surface of the upper wall adjacent to but spaced from the first side wall, a second elongated ammunition guide means smoothly tapered lengthwise thereof and extending along the length of the inner surface of the arcuately curved lower wall adjacent to but spaced from the first side wall, said first and second guide means being thickest adjacent the outlet opening, being spaced substantially equal distances from the first side wall, and being faired into the inner surfaces ofthe upper and lower walls, respectively, adjacent to a cooperating container, a tapered outwardly offset portion formed in said upper wall parallel to said first guide means and deepest adjacent the outlet opening, and releasable attachment means arranged to fixedly secure said outlet assembly to a cooperating ammunition container.

3. A device as described in claim 2, and, in addition, a fiat resilient biasing means attached to one said side wall adjacent to the elongated outlet opening and sloped away from the side wall toward the outlet opening to bias successive cartridges passing through the outlet opening into engagement with the other end of the elongated opening.

4. For use with an ammunition container for belted tapered round ammunition consisting of a rectangular box with a substantial rectangular opening. therethrough adjacent the upper edge of one substantially vertical end thereof, a demountable outlet assembly comprising an open ended box structure including a generally flat upper wall, first and second flat parallel side walls, and an arouately curved lower wall, all interconnected along triutually adjacent edges. and terminating at one end in a relatively small generally rectangular horizontally elongated outlet opening and at the other end in a relatively large rectangular opening corresponding in size to: that of the rectangular opening in a cooperating ammunition container, said arcuately curved lower wall being dis posed substantially parallel to the upper wall adjacent the, outlet opening and shaped, to extend into tangential engagement with the substantially vertical end of;- a cooperating ammunition container adjacent to the reetana gular opening therethrough, a first elongated ammunition guide means smoothly tapered lengthwise thereof and extending along the length of the inner surface ofv the upper wall adjacent to but spaced from the'first side wall, a second elongatedammunition guide means smoothly ta pered lengthwise thereof and extending along the length of the inner surface of the arcuately curved lower walladjacent to but spaced from the first side wall, said first and second guide. means. being thickest adjacent, the outlet opening being spaced substantially equal distances from the first side wall, and being faired into the inner surfaces of the upper and lower walls, respectively, adjacent to a cooperating ammunition container, an elongated longitudinally tapered outwardly offset portion formed in said upper wall parallel to said first guide means and deepest adjacent the outlet opening to accommodate the links of a disintegrating: cartridge belt,v and attachment meansarranged to fixedly secure said outlet assembly to a cooperating ammunition container.

5. An ammunition container for belted tapered round, ammunition consisting of a rectangular boxwith a-substantial rectangular opening therethrough adjacent the upper edge of one vertical end thereof and a demountable outlet assembly therefor fixedly secured thereto and comprising an open ended box structure including a gen.-

erally flat upper wall forming a horizontal extension of the top of said box structure, first and second flat side walls, and an arcuately curved lower wall all interconnected along mutually adjacent edges and terminating at one end in a relatively small generally rectangular horizontally elongated outlet opening and at the other end in a relatively large rectangular opening corresponding in size to that of the rectangular opening in said rectangular box, said arcuately curved lower wall being shaped to fair smoothly into engagement with the vertical end of a cooperating ammunition container adjacent to the rectangular opening therethro ugh, a first elongated ammunition guide means smoothly tapered lengthwise thereof and extending along the length of the inner surface of the upper wall adjacent to but spaced from the first side wall, a second elongated ammunition guide means smoothly taper lengthwise therof and extending along the length of the inner surface of the arcuately curved lower wall adjacent to but spaced from the first side wall, said first and second guide means being thick- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,845,508 Minshall Feb. 16, 1932 2,284,488 Johnson May 26, 1942 2,303,976 Bawcutt et a1. Dec. 1, 1942 2,305,667 Brentnall Dec. 22, 1942 2,456,618 Carless Dec. 21, 1948 2,569,798 Carroll Oct. 2, 1951 

